Donna M. Ashcraft

Institution

Clarion University of Pennsylvania

Current Position

Professor

Highest Degree

Ph.D. in Social and Personality Psychology from SUNY Albany, 1988

Donna Ashcraft received her bachelor's degree from Buffalo State College and her master's and doctorate degrees from The State University Of New York at Albany. One of the founding mothers of the Women’s Studies program, she has taught at Clarion University since 1988. Her research interests include Collaborative Teaching and Learning; Gender Psychology; Human Sexuality; Social/Personality Psychology. Her most recent scholarly work is a book titled Deconstructing Twilight: Psychological and Feminist Perspectives on the Series.

Using feminist and psychological theory, Deconstructing Twilight examines the behavior, relationships, and gender roles depicted in the popular Twilight series. Including perspectives from both fans and detractors of the series, it discusses whether the character Bella, and the series in general is antifeminist or an example of modern feminism, and whether the relationship between Bella and Edward is healthy or maladjusted. Integrating research findings and theories in the areas of personality and social psychology, as well as scenes from the novels and surveys of readers, Deconstructing Twilight separates myth from reality regarding the series depictions of women, men, romantic relationships and motherhood. A social learning perspective is employed to demonstrate the effect the novels can have on gender role formation and the development of relationship scripts in young adult readers. Social psychological concepts are used to explain and integrate the discrepant views of fans and antifans.

Media Contact

Media Contacts are available to answer media inquiries about their research or other areas of expertise. If you are a reporter, writer, or producer who wishes to schedule an interview, please use the Contact form to send a request that includes: (1) the interview topic, (2) the media outlet or publication you work for, and (3) the date by which you hope to complete the interview.